Gov. Cuomo Reaches Deal to Reopen Statue of Liberty

A sign for informing visitors that the Statue of Liberty is closed due to the government shutdown on Oct. 1.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reached an agreement late Friday with federal authorities to reopen the Statue of Liberty amid the ongoing federal government shutdown, his office and the National Park Service said.

The state will pay the daily cost of $61,600 to keep Liberty Island National Park open to visitors, according to the agreement. The island—home to the Statue of Liberty–will reopen this weekend, the governor’s office said.

The agreement, under which the state will donate funds to the National Park Service for the exclusive purpose of reopening the monument, gives money to the park for six days starting Saturday at the total amount of $369,300. State officials said they plan to fund the operations indefinitely as long as the shutdown continues. The money would fund wages, ferries and other operations at the park.

The island and the national monument had been closed since Oct. 1 because of the federal government shutdown. A Cuomo administration official said the governor recently initiated talks with the National Park Service, which maintains the Statue of Liberty, to reopen it despite the dispute in Washington.

The Statue of Liberty’s “closure these last 12 days has had a terrible impact on the local economy and tourism industry,” Mr. Cuomo said in a news release. ”Every day that Liberty Island is closed means we are losing visitors who would otherwise be spending at our local businesses–not to mention the employees who maintain the park and have been forced out of work.”

Liberty Island has been closed on several occasions in recent years, including in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy. The statue was reopened on July 4. The entire island was closed for several months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the statue was inaccessible to visitors for nearly three years. The crown of the statue didn’t reopen until 2009.

“This is a practical and temporary solution that will lessen the pain for some businesses and communities in New York during this shutdown,” said U.S Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell in a news release.